Indonesian Netizen's Scheme Tricks Elon Musk's AI Grok, Nets Rp 3.4 Billion
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The cryptocurrency world was thrown into turmoil after a hacker, believed to be from Indonesia, reportedly breached the security system of Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok. The perpetrator exploited a vulnerability in the artificial intelligence interaction to siphon off digital assets worth US200, 000, orapproximatelyRp3.4billion(assuminganexchangerateofRp17, 253/US).
This cunning manipulation involved exploiting Grok and Bankrbot, an AI system with authorisation to access digital wallets on the Base network. Using a highly technical method, the perpetrator deceived the AI system into executing a large transfer of assets to their personal wallet address.
In reports circulating within the crypto community, an X account named @Ilhamrfliansyh is said to be the one who carried out the exploit. The account was reportedly deleted shortly after the transaction was completed.
Quoting Dexerto, the method used was quite unique. The perpetrator is said to have sent hidden instructions in the form of Morse code to Grok.
The message was then translated by the AI and forwarded to Bankrbot as a command deemed valid by the system.
Before executing the action, the perpetrator first sent a Bankr Club Membership NFT to Grok’s wallet. This step is believed to have expanded the AI’s access permissions within the Bankr ecosystem, allowing Grok to perform asset transfers and token swaps.
Once access was elevated, Grok was instructed to translate the Morse code message, which actually contained instructions to send 3 billion DRB tokens to a specific wallet address.
The translated message was then considered a legitimate command and immediately executed. The transaction on the Base network was completed, with all the tokens transferred to the perpetrator’s wallet.
After receiving the tokens, the perpetrator is said to have immediately sold the assets on the open market. This action briefly caused volatility in the price of DRB tokens.
Subsequent blockchain data shows that funds linked to Grok’s wallet were returned and converted into other assets such as Ethereum and USDC.
On X, several users suspect the perpetrator is from Indonesia based on the language used and the account’s activity in local crypto communities. However, the perpetrator’s true identity remains unconfirmed to date.